Dialogue and Dementia

This volume takes the positive view that conversation between persons with dementia and their interlocutors is a privileged site for ongoing cognitive engagement. The book aims to identify and describe specific linguistic devices or strategies at the level of turn-by-turn talk that promote and extend conversation, and to explore real-world engagements that reflect these strategies.

Part 1: Which Paradigm, Whose Engagement, What Resources? Conversation as Cognition: Reframing Cognition in Dementia. N. Müller, R.W. Schrauf. "What They're Said to Say": The Discursive Construction of Alzheimer's Disease by Older Adults, RW. Schrauf, M. Iris. Part 2: Cognitive and Communicative Resources for Engagement. "Getting to Know You": Situated and Distributed Cognitive Effort in Conversations with Dementia, N. Müller, Z. Mok. "Talking with Maureen": Extenders, and Formulaic Language in Small Stories and Canonical Narratives, B. Davis, M. Maclagan. Interactional and Cognitive Resources in Dementia: A Perspective from Politeness Theory, J. Guendouzi, A. Pate. Conflicting Demonstrations of Understanding in the Interactions of Individuals with Frontotemporal Dementia: Considering Cognitive Resources and their Implications for Care and Communication, L. Mikesell. Part 3: Expressive Approaches to Enriching Engagement. "In My Own Words": Writing Down Life Stories to Promote Conversation in Dementia, E. Bouchard Ryan, D. Crispin, M. Daigneault. Preparing for a Theatrical Performance: Writing Scripts and Shaping Identities in an Early Memory Loss Support Group, H.E. Hamilton, M.Baffy. Alzheimer Pathographies: Glimpses into How People with AD and Their Caregivers Text Themselves, V. Ramanathan. Formulaic Language and Threat: The Challenge of Empathy and Compassion in Alzheimer's Disease Interaction, A.Wray.